I lied

School starts Wednesday - I was still on the waiting list for the first level of cuisine, but not enough people got stuck in immigration to move me into the class, so I am back for level 2 of patisserie. I am a little disappointed, luckily I am excited about bread baking and savory pastries! I have my Scout bag all packed for school - thanks Jeannie and Lesley - loaded with my knife kit, tupperware and freshly ironed uniform. It is the perfect bag to carry so much stuff. I have the first day of school nerves tonight, getting out my instruments of pastry mayhem gives me a certain amount of joy.

Still undecided about taking Basic Cuisine as an Intensive Course (5 weeks, 12 hour days, $10,000) from November 12 to December 17. I am almost sure, I just need to make the final decision. Note to family: I will not be home for Thanksgiving if I do this.

I have almost perfected my chicken breast dinner. I made it again for my mom, and then once more this afternoon. I finally got a sauce from the 'brown bits' left in the pain. The brown bits turned black so fast that I have never had enough to make a real sauce until today. If you can believe it, I am out of wine, so I had to deglaze the pan with water - and it worked just fine.